Beet-cutter.



8.1. BINKLEY & R. A. STEPS.

BEEIT CUTTER- APPLICATION man APR. 6. 1911.

1,241,?02. Patented Oct. 2,1917.

5 SHEETS -SHEET I.

R. J. BINKLEY & R. A. STEPS.

BEET CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.6. I917.

In l/enlo st R. J. BINKLEY & R. A. STEPS. BEET cuTfER.

APPLICATION FILED APR-6.19M. 1,241,702. Patented Oct. 2,1917.

' HEET Eggg; fl

mw A 5 Mn 4 R. J. BINKLEY & R. A. STEPS.

BEET CUTTER.

APPLICATION HLED APR. s. 1911.

Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

has 25 fnvemors: 5;). l2 53: 20. mu

R. J. BINKLEY & R. A. STEPS.

BEET CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED Arms, 1911.

Patented Oct. 2,1917.

5 $HEETS-SHEET 5 FIG-III,

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

ROBAH JRBINZKLEY, or l omomnnun ROBERT A. sTEPs, 013 LOS ANGELES,oALIronnpi.

BEET-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 2 1917.

Application filegLAprilfi, 1917. Serial No. 160,126

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that we, Roman JLBINKLEY.

andRonnn'r A. Srnrgcitizens of theUnited States, respectively residingat BOII10HL, lIl,

the county of Los Angeles illldl State of California, and at. LosAngeles, in; the county of, Iuos Angelesand Stateof (Bali,- fornia,haveinventeda new. andmsefuLBeet Cutter, of which, the following, is. aspecification.

The drum typeloeet slicer,,to.which this,

invention. relates,- is.- a. very old and well knowmclass of machinery,and :ischaractcu: izedby; the fact. that theknives arecarried on. theinternal, periphery of a cylindrical drum revolving on a horizontal;axis, thev beets being fed into. the, drum, through; a.

suitablehopper, and.the shreds or cuttings passing out through, suitableopenings ad,

jacent thcknives; also a. stationary apron is usually fastenedinthedrurnon-the trail,- ing sid a, anditslower-[face isso formed that thebeets are wedged and pressed onto the knives. i

Thesecutters are used IIIb EGt sugar, 1111118.

Second :-by means of the corrugatech:

guidebars long V shredsare uniformly produced without effecting anylateral, adjust;- ment, of the knife blocks, and the result is much moresatisfactory than where such adjustment is used for the purpose.

Third :rocks can be automatically discharged from the cutter whilerunning withoutthe trouble incident to removing: a c vlindrical rockcatcher from the machine.

Fourth :the knife blocks used in these cutters, are improved.

Other features of invention will appear from a consideration of theclaims andspecifications.

The accompanyingdrawings illustrate one for nof the invention. Figure 1,is a plan section of the cutter; Fig. 2, is a transverse section ofsame; Fig. 3, is a transverse view of the cutter in full; Figs. l, and5, show thcimprovcd spider: Fig. (i, is an enlarged view showingadetail; Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showingthc spiderarni; Fig. 8, is atransverse section ,of, the gklllffi, block, the section beingonbroken.line X-X F ig. 9; Fig, 9, is a, plan view of the knife block; Fig.10,isa, view of. the corrugatedguide barin relation to a, corrugated knife;Fig. 11, illustrates the shreds that arewuniformly cut in thiscutter;Fig. 12, illustrates shreds of oddshapcs cut, prior. to the advent ofthe. corrugatedhar; Fig. 13, is,a.scction-. il view of. a knife hlockthe section beingon line X -X .Figs 8, and 9:, this view shows in.detail themechanis n for adjusting the guide bars; Figs. 14,15, and,1,6, are respectively side, endnndtop views of the wedge.

used. in. adjusting thebars Fig, 17,.shows.

thespider arm with a good, form of, wear platethereon; Fig. 18, shows alongitudinal section through the wear, plate.

Broadly speakingfhe cutter consists a revoluble dr mmperating in astationary casing. The principal parts. which make up, the cylindrical,drum are the shaft 1,, theheavy circular disk 2, the spider 3, and theknife blocks 41; while theparts that make up the stationarycasing arethe site 1ne1n-. hers 6, and 7, the .base 8, aproperly formed apron andchute 9, the .coverplate 10, and the bearings 11, and 12. l]hc gener alrcla;

tion of. these partsappears in Figs. 1, 2,

and3.

In Fig, 2, some of. the knifehlocks, are

shown in section, and in these the cutter knives 13 can be secnalong theinternal pe;

riphery of the drum. These knivcsarc acting onthe beets.

Itwillbe understood that ononeside the revolving drum is closedhy thedisk2, and that the dr un is closed all around its periphery by theknife blocksaudspiden. However,

sofar as the revoluhle partsare concerned,

the drum is open on the side oppositefdisk 2, but the stationary.side.1nen1cbr'6, see,

Figs. 1, and 3, closes the drum here, except at the opening 14 adjacent.the hopper '15, through which the beetsare fed into the revolving drum.i i

Fig. 2, shows the beets in the drum, and,

as the latter rotates in the direction of the arrow, the knives 13 cutoff shreds which.

pass out through the knife hhicks then down through base 8 into asuitable conveyor or spout not illustrated in the figures. Astheoperation proceeds the boots are urged under (i f cutter he pullsgate through the stationthe apron9, and on account of the taperedrelation between this member and the face of the drum, the beets arepressed hard onto the knives, and the cutting proceeds with good effect.I

In some mills where the beets are gathered from rocky country, or whereinadequate provision is made, rocks sometimes enter the cutter with thebeets, and it is desirable to have provision for coping with this situa-7 'tion, as the rocks might seriously damage the knives. 'Heretofore itwas attempted to trap the rocks in a cylinder carried in apron 9, butthis was usually unsatisfactory. The

idea was that on trapping the rock in the cylinderthe'cutter should bestopped, the

cylinder withdrawn, and after removing the rocks and debris therefrom,the cylinder was to be replaced in the cutter, and Operations resumed,For various reasons these cylinderswere troublesome. or instance, ifthey were left open durlng normal operation, the beets rushed in andfilled them the instant the cutter started, or if they were left closedduring normal operation, and opened when a rock was heard, the beetsagain rushed in and filled them before the rockgot to it. In eitherevent'the cylinder was usually packed before the rock could enter, andthere was little or no room for the rock when 'it got there, inconsequence of which the "rock was usually held on the knives the sameas though no cylinder were present. Obviously the knives sufferedaccordingl'y. Again after the cutter was stopped and theoperator desiredto get the rock, it was often very difficult to remove thecylinder'fromthe cutter, because of the manner in which the beets locked the cylinderin place. Some beets would be half in and half-out of the cylinder, sothat the latter was locked and could not be withdrawn except with greatefllort and delay. It will be noted that the cutter was idle during thedelay, and the eiiiciency of the facv tory was reduced accordingly.

In our. cutter however, the whole situation is handled differently- Thecylinder is entirely omitted and the upper portion ofthe aproncomprise's'afiat removable gate 15, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and in addition,the upper portion of the apron behind the gate, is.

formed like a chute, the rear portion 16 being at a slightly higherelevation than the forward portion 17, so that a continuous decline'isformed leading from gate 15,

down'the chute and out through the stationary side 6 through the hole 18which opens the entire chuteat that side.

When the operator notices a rock in our ary side 6,the handle 19, Fig.1, on the gate,

being specially formed for this purpose. When the gate is completely'out the beets come tumbling down the chute and automatically fall outof the cutter through 7 opening 18. The stream is continuous while thecutter continues to run, and on account of the flow of beets thuscreated, the rock is usually swept along the cutter and discharged withthe beets before the motion of the cutter is arrested. In fact, afterthe rook is seen falling out of the chute there is no further necessityfor slowing the cutter, and the gate 15 can be shoved back in place andoperations resumed immediately. In this way the rocks can often beremoved without even stopping the cutter, and the,

annoyance, and particularly the delay, occasioned in endeavor-ing toremove the rock with the cylindrical rock catcher is entirelyeliminated. This reflects favorably upon" the efficiency of the cutteras well as of the entire mill, and in order to facilitate the closing ofthe gate, its forward eclgeQO, Fig.

1, is beveled into a sharp edge, so that it can be cut right through thebeets, if necessary.

The element 21, Fig. 2, represents a revoluble brush used for brushingthe knife edges and preventing clogging while the cutter works on woodybeets.

brushed off by the brush'falls through opening 22, onto the chute andout through open- The debris ing18, thus keeping the space about the 'tothese requirements-illustrates another advantage of our cutter over thetype using a cylindrical rock catcher.

Attention will now be diverted to the details of the knife blocks 4. Inthe first place it will be understood-that each knife block holds 3 rowsof knives separated by a like number of'guide bars, and that the knifeblocks can be removed from the machine by an opening inside member 6 notshown in the drawing. Usually the equipment. of a cutter includesseveral sets of kmfe blocks, the knives in one set being 'set up andadjusted outside of the cutter, while another set, with its knives, isoperating in the cutter, and when the knives in the cutter become dullthe knife blocks are pulled out and another set of blocks, with newlysharpened knives, are shoved in. In this way the knives can bechangedwith only a short delay in the operation of the cutter, and thecutting capacity of the factory is thus maintained at a high standard. 1

Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 18 to 16 inclusive, show our improved form of knifeblock.

Generally speaking knife blocks consist of two side members 23,connected by heavy cross arms 24,-see 'ar-tic-nlarly Fig. 8. The knives13 are bolted to the cross arms, and in front of each knife is mountedan adjustable guide bar 25; The knives 13, it will be understood, are ofan old standard type, the edge and time being corrugated as shown at 26,Figs. 6, 7, and 10, and the channels 27 project down from the bottom ofeach corrugation. The guide bars 25 are "adjustable as to" height, andobviously the thickness of the shreds depends on the height to whichthese bars are adjusted in relation to the knives. Also it might bestated that prior to the advent of corrugated guide bars for thesecutters, the upper guiding face of the bars Was usually flat, inconsideration of which fact the cuttings were often irregular in lengthand section. This Wasdue principally to the fact that the beets wouldshift and move around a little while passing from the edge of one knifeto the edge of the next one. Consequently, with flat bars, odfd euttingscf the character shown in Fig. 12 are quite common, and this is trueregardless of the precautions taken to ali'n'e all points of the kniveswith each other around the periphery of the cutter. This ali'nenient isvery difficult to effect, and even when accoinplish'ed is 0t littleservice because the beets shift between the knives as stated. In ourcutter however, the uide bars '25 are corrugated to conform with theknives, as shown in Fig. 9, and pz'trticularly Fig. 10. The corrugationsin the bars line up accu'- ratel with the corrugations in the knives,and the result is that after the beet is cut by'one knife thecorrugations in the next bar catch in the corrugations cut by thepreceding knife and guide the beet into accurate alinen'rent with thenext knife, so that each knife Will cut the beets right over thecorrugations'cut by the preceding knife. In this way V shaped shreds ofthe kind shown in F 11, are uniformly cut in our cutter without theinconvenience of attempting to laterally adjust either the knives or theknife blocks.

It will be understood that these V- shreds shown in Fig. 11, are farmore preferable than those shown in Fig. 12, as the sugar can bedissolved from the former much more thoroughly and with considerablyless water than from the latter, and the savings thus effected by thecorrugated guide bar are considerable and are fully appreciated by thetrade.

In addition to corru-gating our hat, its upper face 28 is conv'exed tosweep nicely into the knife, and in this way the beet is so guided thatlong V shaped shreds can be out without breaking or bruisiug th'em asthey pass from the knife. In addition to this our bars are adjustedstraight up and dowinand are not adjusted by rocking-them in a socket,as was common heretofore.

On this account the ideal inclination between the knife and the convenedface can be main tained constant at all adjustments of the bars, whereaswith the rocker bar this inclination necessarily changes with eachadjust} ment, and the cutting of long shreds is not accomplished so wellin the latter case.

We will now direct attention to the means which we adopt for adjustingthe bars straight up and down, and it will be noted that this means issimpler than that shown in a co-pending application by R. J Binkley,Serial No. 107,507, filed July 5, I916, the last mentioned applicationcovering the general idea of raising and lowering of the bar straight upand down.

The simplified means used in this in\'e11- tion for accomplishing thesame result, can be described as follows:Fig. '8 shows the cross arms Zlwhich carry the l'niivos- 13 on their forward portion, and the bars 'ontheir rearward portion. At the rear these arms have a portion 29 whichmay run at an inclination across the box as shown in Fig. 13. On the uperll-10930 of this pin tion runs the long wedge '31, see Figs. 8', 9;and 13 to 16, inclusive. The upper face 32 of this wedge ma be inn-imamand =calric's the guide bar 25, while the lower face the wedge isinclined in conformity with the inclination of face 30, in the crossarni Ql, so that as the wedge moved back and forth on face 30 the'g'ilide bar will. of necessity be raised and l'o'\\"er'edwithou't'c'han-ging the inclination between "the guiding face '28 andthe knives. -Of course substantially the same result would beaccomplished if the bottom of the guide bar was inclined, instead of the"top of the cross arm, but all changes of this character are obviousrn'odifications'of our conception, and 'will be left to the judgment ofthe designer, except that the form described above is-(l'oern'e'd thebest for several reasons.

For the purpose of holding the wedgeel on the 'ci'ossarm portion 29,lugs3-3, Figs. 8, 9, and 13, project up'as shown, and for the purpose ofshifting the wedge back and forth a large teat 34, see Figs. '14, 1'5,and 16, is cast thereon. This tent is shown dotted in Fig. 13, in orderto more clearly illustrate the parts below.

Also in order to fas'ten'thc guide bar in place, after correcta'djust'n'ient has been made, a heavy stud 35 'isprovidedand pr'oje'ct'sdown from the bar. This stud runs inanelongatedslotg36, formed in thewedge, and a neck nut 37, Figs. 8, and 13, co iipen ates with this studand loc'k's the guide bar 25 and wedge 31 securely in place.

It might be noted-'also'th'at'during operation the pressureofth'ebeetson the guide bar tends to shift the bar toward the knife. Thistend'encymightbe'checked by th'e'forcc of the neck nut on the stud, all :fa'ce's011 -1950 wedge, bar, etc, being substantially square with each other,but inaddition to this, the

- extra precaution has been taken of adding the heavy pins 38, FigsrS,9,, andl3, which are pressed into. the sides 23 of the knife block, andproject slightly inward therefrom as shown inFigs. 9, and 13. This isfor the purpose of holding the corrugated guide bars back when thebeetspush on them during operation, and illustrates one good. mode ofaccomplishing this result. Other means will readily occur to the reader.

The foregoing practically completes the description of the knife blocks,and attention will now be directed to our improved of the knife blocks,and the arms were built symmetricalbehind this portion. It cannotbedoubtedthat this secures the strength,

but .we have. found that such construction.

is unnecessarily wasteful of space, as the strength is gained attheexpense of the cutting capacity ofthe cutter. This is because themetal which produces strength was located at the inner periphery of thearm and in direct line with the knife blocks, and being so located tookup room that should have been used for holding additional knife blockswith their complement of knives.

In our spider however, we have refashioned it lngeniously and haveremoved some metal from the pathof. the knlfe blocks and have added itbehind this point where there is room for. it. This new construction isfully as'strong' as the'old one and sufficient room is gained at eacharm so that in the aggregate an additional knife block of standard sizecan be inserted in the same diameter spider. It is in this way that thenine knife blocks, with their knives, may be car-.

ried instead of only eight as heretofore, and

an increase of 12%% in the cutting capacity of the machineis securedwithout sacrificing any strength whatever. v

' Obviously the same principle applies further, and in spiders'of otherdiameters, so

that still more knife blocks could be carried if desired, but theconception remains the same-throughout.

Attention is now directed to Fig. 7, which shows one of the approvedforms of our arms.

-By way of introducing it We wish to state that our arms have the samecross sectional,

The reason for this is that hereto-v area as those commonly used in theeight block spiders; also our arms have the same maximum dimensions bothradially and. transversely; in consideratlon of which factsit will beapparent that our arms are fully as strong both-in shear and torsion, asthose heretofore used, and in other respects they are still stronger, aswill be pointed out later. Passing by this point for the present, we.wish to note thatin our arm the inner rectangular portion 39 drives theknife blocks, and is of more than ample strength because it is backed upby thev wide rear portion 40., With reference to a medial line 4 X -Fig.7, passing midway through the driving portion 39 of the .arm, it willnow be noted that the-rear strength giving,

portion 40 is unsymmetrical therewith. In

this form of the arm a considerable portion.

of the metal isloaded on thetrailing side and the forward portion 41 iscut back to.

correspond with the bevel of the cross arm 24k, which holds the knives13,,ysee particularly. Fig. 7 The principle of this construction is asfollows :as the knives 13.,cut shreds from the beets,.the shreds passback along the under face of the knives, between channels 27, until theyreach the rear curved portion 42 of the knives, where the shreds aregently deflected downwardly, and the forward face .48 of the cross aim,being beveled in continuation of curve 42, receives the shreds andpasses them on gently without danger of breaking or bruising them. It

is quite importantthat the shreds be notbroken into short pieces aslong. shreds give much nicer results in the diffusion processes in.sugar factories than short ones do, and consequently. any clrcumstances,such as sharp turns or corners, which would tend to break the shreds,would be deemed undesirable. For this reason the advancingrface 41 ofour spider arm 5, is cut back asshown, and the result is beneficial withregard to the production of long shreds.- On the other hand the metalthat is thus taken from the. forward side of our arm is loaded on thetrailing side as shown. A moments consid eration W111 also show thatthere 1s an abundance of room for the metal there because the shredsfrom the next succeeding knife pass off considerably behind the arm.

Thiscan be seenin Fig. 2...

Of course if the designer is willing to sacrifice length of shreds, thespider arm can be made symmetrical about line X X and by buildingtheintegral rear portion 40, of

the arm, so that it projects somewhat beyond the inner driving portion39, both on the advancing and trailing sides of. the arm as shown, it ispossible to secure at leastthe additional capacity which we have pointedout, but we deem it advisable to go further.

and adopt all of our recommendations by building the rear portion 40unsymmetrical .around line QU-X, instead of symmetrical,

as this affords ,better exit for the shredsas well .as greater capacity.

The next general feature in our improved spider concerns itself with themanner in which we .protect it against wear. In this connection it willbe realized that the :pres- .sure and-drag of the beets rapidly wear theinner face of the spider arms, .and unless ,provision is made for taking,this up, the situation .is soon rendered objectionable because thebeetsihecome exposed tosharp corners on the advancing knifeblocks, andthe beets are mashed into pulp .by .these 1 corners, instead of beingout .into shreds by the knives. Alsothe :continuous act of sliding theknife blocks in and out between t-he spider .arms, cause the latter towear, and

consequently the knife blocks soon fit ilooscly between the arms andtend \to fall inward toward the center of the cutter. This again isundesirable be auseQthe tendency to pulp is increased.

For these reasons we provide the removable wearplates i l .and 45,respectively on ,the inner faceand .the sides OfthBflI'IllSyitllClinaddition the .lugs a6 are bolted to the inner face of .the arms atpoints corresponding to the running sides vof the knife blocks, thisbeing ,seen best in Fig. i. In this way the lugs .46 act .ascontinuations of the sides 25 of the knife blocks. These differentplates are fastened to thearms-by meansof screws, or other suitablefastenings, which need not be illustrated. Of course when the platesbecome worn, even to a slight degree, they can ,bereplaced at small costand the spider is then kept like new. Also the pulping tendency referredto is eliminated and clean cutting is insured at all times.

Figs. 17 and 18 show an improved form .of wear plate 47 which werecommend. The feature of this plate lies in the fact that it isintegral, the single box member shown ,taking the place of five separatepieces,

namely plates 44 and 45, and lugs 46, Fig. 7. This integral wear plateis ofbox construction and can be easily machined. It is fastened to thespider arm by heavy screws 48, and if desired the channel runningthrough the box can be made larger than the i-nclosed portion of thespider arm. If this is done only the inner face 49 of the arm need bemachined, and after bolting the finished wear plate 47 onto the arm,lead or babbitt or like material 50 can ,be poured .between the plateand the arm and the space filled .up. A special dye can be used forcasting this metal in, and the process is not only quicker, but alsoslightly cheaper, than machining the arms on the sides. Also, if properjigs and templates are used the results are considerably more accurate.For the purpose of causing the lead or babbitt to adhere to the arm,dovetailed apertures 5,1, :or oppositely inclined holes, may .be

[formed in il'he sides of,the arms, andafter gthe metal cools the,portion which 'has iru n into ,these ,holes will .draw the remaindertight zinto .place.

The foregoing construction has several obvious advantages chief of whichare the greater strength and simplicity ,obtained in the wear plates,and also the greater uniformity which can be procured.

In concluding thediscourse on our spider .arm, zwc .now wish to mentionthat line AA,I Eig.'7, indicatcsthe; direction in which blows are struckupon the arms by rocks or other hard substancesjin the Clll'i61',\\ll01lthe cutter running,- and in our spiderthis line represents the line ofgreatest strength through the arms. Consequently -it follows thattheshape vwhich we have contrived has the-additional advantage ofhavingits great- ;est strength in the direction in which the severestblows are struck, and the *valueof this feature is so obvious as torequire (no further discussion. By pointing it out we merely desire toshow that in addition to increasing the :cutter capacity this shape forthe arm also increases the strength of the spider.

Referring now to Fig. 6,this showsa detail which should. be mentioned.:It will be understood :that the various spider arms 5 are tiedtogether-by the annular ring portion 3 of the spider. Fig. 6 shows asection through this ring midway between the arms, and the section alsoshows one of the knife blocks l in place. In some cutters it has beencustomary to merely push the knife blocks in, and then to run the cutterwithout fastening the blocks. Under ordinary circumstances this isusually su'flicient, as there is no force urging the knife blockstransversely from between the spider arms.

We deem it desirable however, to make some I positive provision againstany possible creeping of the knife blocks out from the spider arms,because should such creeping accidentally occur, the knife blocks wouldrub against the stationary side 6 of the cutter, and by striking someobstruction might be done. Accordingly we use a blunt shoulder screw 52Fig. 6, carried midway between the spider arms, this screw butting onthe back of the knife .block as shown. In this locality the knife blockis machined with the flat face 53 from which projects the raised portion54. The side 55 and the top 56 of this raised portion are perfectlysquare with each other and with the face 53 as shown. Also the relationbetween the shoulder 57, of the screw, and the faces 55 and 58 of theknife blocks, and the face .59 of the s ider hub 2 is such that when theknife box is shoved clear in.-'-i. 0. when face 58 bunks against face59,-*--then the shoulder portion 57 of the screw will nicely clear theiso "6 of the cutter, as noted above.

"blocks are shoved clear in till they bunk on the spider hub, the recoilis usually not so great but that the flat shoulder 57 of the screwcanstill clear face 55 of the raised portion, and seat itself on face 53as shown.

With respect to this screw 52, it should be noticed that same is notused for shifting the boxes transversely. In fact no transverse motionof the box could be effected by means of this screw because of themanner in which we have formed and arranged it. In our construction itwill be understood that instead of attempting'to ad ust transversely theknife boxes for the purpose of alining the points of the knives aroundthe entire periphery of the cutter, we use our corrugated guide bars asmentioned, and these insure the cutting of perfect V shreds moresatisfactorily than when the transverse adjustment of the-knife boxes isrelied on for this purpose.

This now concludes the description of our invention, but it will ofcourse be realized that many modifications contrived.

j Claims.

1. In a'beet cutter, the combination of a revoluble drum adapted to holdbeets the axis of rotation of said drum being substantially horizontal,a stationary side member mounted beside said revoluble drum, a movablegate in said drum, and a chute leading from said gate out through saidstationary side member.

2. In a beet cutter the combination of a revoluble drum adapted to holdbeets the axis of rotation of said drum'being substantially'horizontal,stationary side member mounted beside said revoluble drum, a removablegate in said drum, and a curved chute leading down from said gate andout through said stationary side member.

3. In a beet cutter'the combination of a revoluble drum adapted tohold'beets' the axis of rotation of said drum being substantiallyhorizontal, a stationary side member mounted beside said revolubledrum,'said stationary side member having an aperture therein, aremovable gateadapted to slide through said aperture, said stationaryside member having another aperture therein, and a chute leading fromsaid gate through the last said aperture in the side member.

of detail can be 4. In a beet cutter the combination of a revoluble drumadapted to'hold beets the axis of rotation of said drum beingsubstantially horizontal, a stationary side member mounted beside saiddrum, a curved apron fastened in said drum, said side member having anaperture, a flat gate adapted to slide through said aperture into saiddrum, said side member havinjganother aperture therein, the upper faceof said apron being inclined downward from said gate and at the sidefarthest from said side member said upper face of the apron being atahigher elevation than at the side adjacent said side member, sothatbeets can roll down the apron'from the gate and out through the lastmentioned aperture in said side member.

6. In a beet cutter the combinationofa revoluble drum adapted to holdbeets, the axis of rotation of said drum being substan tiallyhorizontal, beet knives mounted on the internal periphery of said drum,a stationary side member mounted beside said drum, said side memberhaving an" aperture-therein, a stationary apron member mounted in saiddrum the lower face of thelower por tion of said apron member beingcurved'to press the beets onto said knives, and the upper face of saidlower portion of the apron -member being a chute curved downward andoutward with its lower portion adjacent the aperture in said sidemember, a web formed across the upper portion of said apron memberdividing same into two compartments, a brush in the upper of; said twocompartments, and the lower compartment being bounded below'by saidchute, said web also having an aperture therein located so that thedebris brushed from the knives can pass fromthe uppermost of saidcompartments through the lowermost compartment and out of the cutterpast the chute and aperture in said side-member. I

7. A spider for beet cutting machines comprising a circular portion andarms projecting transversely therefrom, the said arms having an innerdriving portion and an outer strength giving portion, the inner drivingportion being narrower circumferentialiy than the outer strength givingportion.

8. A spider for beet cutting machines comprising a circular portion andarms projecting transversely therefrom, the arms comprising an innerdriving portion and an outer strength giving portion, the outer strengthgiving portion being unsymmetrical with respect to a radial line passingmidway through the inner driving portion.

9. A spider for beet cutting machines comprising circular portion andarms projecting *transversely therefrom, the arms (:OU'IPI'lSlDg aninner driving portion and an outer strength giving portion, the innerdriving outer strength giving portion, the inner drivmg portion beingnarrower circumferentially'than the outer strength giving portion, andthe outer strength giving portion being unsymmetrical with regard to aradial line passing midway through the inner driving portion, the saidstrength giving portion being heavier on the trailing side of the saidradial line than on the forward side thereof.

11. In a beet cutting machine the combination of a spider havingtransverse arms, knife blocks carried between said arms, the knifeblocks having cross bars, knives bolted to said cross bars, the saidcross bars being beveled backward from the knives to afford easy egressfor the cuttings, and the said spider arms comprising an inner drivingportion. and an outer strength giving portion, the outer strength givingportion being unsymmetrical with respect to a radial line passing midwaythrough the inner strength giving portion, and the advancing side ofsaid strength giving portion being cut backward.

12. A spider for beet cutting machines comprising a circular portion,arms projecting transversely therefrom, and removable wear plates ofchannel shaped section fastened to said arms.

13. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, a plurality ofguide bars carried on the forward sides of said cross bars and aplurality of knives carried on the rear sides of said cross bars, a longwedge between the guide bar and cross bar for adjusting the height ofthe guide bar evenly without tilting the guide bar in any direction, astud fastened to the guide bar and reaching down past the wedge, and anut cooperating with the stud for fastening the guide bar to the box.

14. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, a plurality ofguide bars carried on the fprward sides of said cross bars and aplurality of knives carried on the rear sides of said cross bars, a longwedge between the guide bar and cross bar for adjusting the height ofthe guide bar evenly without tilting the guide bar in any direction, astud fastened to said guide bar and reaching down past the wedge, thecross bar having an aperture below the guide bar for the purpose ofreceiving the stud, the aperture being counterborcd from the lower sideof said cross bar, and a nut located in said 'counterbored-portion ofthe cross bar for cooperating with said stud in fastening the guide barto the box.

1.). A. curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, guide bars carriedon the forward sides of said cross bars and knives carried on the rearsides of said cross bars, a long wedge between the guide bar and crossbar for adjustillg the height of the guide bar evenly without tiltingthe guide bar in any direction, the wedge having a long slot runninglengthwise thereof, a stud fastened to the guide bar and reaching downpast the wedge through said slot, and a nut cooperating with the studfor fastening the guide bar to the box.

16. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, guide bars carriedon the forward sides of said cross bars and knives carried on the rearsides of said cross bars, a long wedge between the guide barand crossbar for adjusting the height of the guide bar evenly without tilting theguide bar in any direction, the wedge having a long slot runninglengthwise thereof, a stud fastened to the guide bar and reaching downpast the wedge through said slot, the cross bar having an aperture belowthe guide bar for the purpose of receiving the stud, the aperture beingcounterbored from the lower side of the said cross bar, and a nutlocated in said counterbored portion of the bar for cooperating withsaid stud in fastening the guide bar to the box.

17. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, guide bars carriedon the forward sides of said cross bars and knives carried on the rearsides of said cross bars, a long wedge between the guide bar and crossbar for adjusting the height of the bar evenly without tilting the guidebar in any direction, and a tit formed on said wedge for facilitatingthe movement of same.

18. A curved knife box for beet cutting v. in?

machines, comprising side members and cross, bars connecting said sidemembers, guide bars carried onthe forward sides of said cross bars andknives carried on the rear sides of said cross bars, the face of thecross bar below the guide bar being inclined with respect to the lengthof the cross bar, and a long Wedge between said guide bar and cross barfor adjusting the height of the guide bar evenly without tilting theguide bar in any direction. I

'19. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, guide bars carriedon the forward sides of said cross bars and knives carried on the rearsides of said cross bars, the face of the cross bar below the guide barbeing inclined with respect to the length of the cross bar, a long wedgebetween said guide bar and cross bar for adjusting the height of theguide bar evenly without tilting the guide bar in any direction, a studfastened to the guide barand reaching down beyond said wedge, the crossbar having an aperture below the guide bar for receiving the stud, the

aperture in the cross bar being eounterbored below and a nut located insaid-counterbored portion of the cross bar for cooperating with saidstud and fastening the guide bar to the knife box.

20. A curved knife box for beet cutting machines, comprising sidemembers and cross bars connecting said side members, guide bars carriedon the forward sides of said cross bars and knives carried on the rearsides of said cross bars, a long wedge between the guide bar and crossbar for adjusting the height of the guide bar evenly without tilting theguide bar in any direction, and projections extending from said sidemembers inward and butting against the guide bars for preventing theguide bars from slipping toward their corresponding knives.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,county of Los Angeles, State of California, this26th day of March,-1917.

R'OBAH J. BINKLEY; ROBERT A. sTEPs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents;

Washington, D. 0.

